New Orleans City Council Housing Committee UPDATE

Father Walter Baer and Deacons Elaine Clements, Charmaine Kathmann, Mike Hackett and I attended the Housing committee meeting this morning at City Council chambers, as did Martha Kegel of Unity for the Homeless and representatives of several non-profits and faith-based groups concerned about this issue. Unfortunately the committee chair was not present and there were not enough members for a vote to be taken, but Councilmembers Stacy Head and Shelley Midura were there for the whole meeting and James Carter (chair of Criminal Justice committee) for much of it. They seemed very responsive to our concerns; Stacy Head said she had tried to reach someone at the Diocese previously on the housing issue but had not heard back. They are eager to work with us and relieved that we have a task force organized.

Elaine and I both had an opportunity to speak and Fr. Baer read the Bishop's letter, listing most of the names we had available this morning. The consensus--apparently shared by Ms. Midura and Ms. Head by the end of the meeting--was that criminalizing homelessness will NOT help to solve the problem, and that housing, social services, and case management must be in place before there is any serious talk about forcing the homeless off of the streets.

There will be a joint meeting of the Housing and the Mental Health (chaired by Midura) committees on May 8 and we are all invited. Also, a city task force is being formed on the homelessness issue and we are asked to participate.

Updates as they become available....Thanks for all the support.

Deacon Lydia Hopkins

Homeless need Compassion, not Criminalization

Dear Members of the City Council,

 

We write to you today to express our grave concern over the proposed ordinance on public habitation, section 54-419 of the City Code.

 

Please know that we are not bystanders offering our opinion on the work that others are doing.  We, along with countless other members of the community, have been actively involved in ministry to the homeless and precariously housed in our city. We provide food and clothing to those living on the streets; we assist with re-housing efforts as well as the transition from FEMA trailers to permanent housing; we provide case management services and resources to help families remain housed; and we help to rebuild homes for the most vulnerable members of our community. We see first-hand the varied factors that contribute to the homelessness crisis, and our experience has taught us that the homeless need compassion, not criminalization. A simplistic “quick fix” as proposed in this ordinance will only exacerbate the dire conditions that are keeping residents down-and-out.  

 

The failure of our community to develop and implement a comprehensive affordable housing strategy in the wake of unprecedented disaster is a communal failing. Yet this ordinance penalizes only those individuals who have fallen through the cracks—and we expect that there will be many more yet to come.

 

Furthermore, the ordinance will divert precious city resources to policing and jailing the destitute, at a time when our city is in the grips of a wave of violent crime and our jails are stretched to capacity.

 

·         We call on you to adopt a policy that affirms the dignity of every human being in our community, including the homeless. 

 

·         We believe that our limited resources can be more compassionately and effectively utilized to house rather than criminalize the homeless.

·         We ask you not to pass this ordinance.

 

·         We stand ready to work with you and offer our experience, our time and our energy in order to draft a comprehensive, effective, and ethical solution to our city’s homelessness crisis.

 

 

In faith and hope,

 

 

 

Rt. Rev. Charles Jenkins

Bishop, Diocese of Louisiana

 

 

 

 

Rev. Jerry Kramer                                                  

Rector, Church of the Annunciation                        

Rev. Jim Quigley

Rector, St. George's Episcopal Church

Rev. Lydia  Hopkins

Deacon, St. George's Episcopal Church

 

Rev. Elaine Clements

Deacon, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

 

 

Nell Bolton                                                                

Exec. Director, Office of Disaster Response

Diocese/ACT          

Shakoor Aljuwani

Community Organizer

Diocese/ACT 

Back from Katrina exile, man lived alone and died

by Katy Reckdahl, The Times-Picayune

Sometime during the night on March 15, Alvin Thomas crumpled onto his cold porch floor, where he lay, alone, behind a locked wrought-iron door embossed with oak leaves and acorns. An Episcopal Diocese volunteer found him the next morning, near death. Firefighters broke down the door for paramedics, who took him to University Hospital, where he succumbed to an undiscovered brain-stem tumor. The volunteer had stopped by with a can opener for the food Thomas had stacked inside the gutted house during the past year but couldn't open.

 

Read the full story at NOLA.com here!

Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative is going strong

Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative is going strong and doing well in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans.  Two questions have been asked of me lately and I want to share the answers with all.

First, are we selling houses?  The answer is yes.  We have sold every house where we have completed work and have a waiting list for those under construction.  Eight houses are sold and twelve under construction.  I am told we are the second largest supplier of housing for low-income people in Orleans Parish. Our partnership with Crossroads continues strong.  This means these houses are built with volunteer labor!  I am very pleased with our progress. We are building houses from the ground up and not doing modular.  I think these structures will increase in value and are a good investment for the homebuyer.  We have supplied several families with “soft-second” mortgages to enable them to move into a new, dignified home. A noteworthy evolution is occurring; most of the recent sales have been to current or former Central Residents.  Renters are becoming homeowners.  We have lost money on every house we have built save two.  This is not so good for Jericho but it was a good thing for the neighborhood.  We realize such cannot continue.  Our model is not to make money but we do have administrative costs.  

Second, what are our needs?  What does the future look like?  We continue to need funding for operations, for gap financing, and for obtaining rental property.  This latter need, fair priced rental housing, seems to me most critical for the immediate future of our city.  I am convinced this will be a major resource for helping people return home.  The future looks good and we can see a long time presence in Central City.  The constantly changing landscape in which we work is a challenge but one of our values is persistence.  

We are still looking towards urban environmental issues around the Brownfield site (a former city incinerator) in Central City.  This is not an easy issue.  We want to unlock unutilized land for development but we do not want to endanger anyone, in particular the poor whom we seek to serve.  The Church is rightly held to a higher moral and ethical position than others.  The recent scandal of Road Home refusing to buy homes from folk living in another Brownfield site looms large for us.  We intend to hold ourselves to the gold standard in this matter.  Several voices are raised against this potential development.  The questions are many. We proceed with caution. Therefore, it is a dilemma, pray for us.  

Jericho Road is doing well.  The full measure of this ministry is not measured only in the number of homes built, but must also be considered in light of the leadership and expertise we share with others concerned with housing.  Our resolve to work with the neighborhood, and not simply in the ‘hood, puts us in a unique position in New Orleans.